Rotary wiper floor scrubbing apparatus



Aug. 8, 1950 w. c. RENNE 2,518,133

ROTARY WIPER FLOOR SCRUBBING APPARATUS Filed May 3, 1947 swam tom Patented Aug. 8, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROTARY WIPER FLOOR SCRUBBING APPARATUS William C. Renne, Kansas City, Mo;

Application May 3, 1947Serial No. 745,768

Claims.

The present invention relates in general to floor treating apparatus and. deals more particularly with floor scrubbing machines.

' An important object of the invention is to provide a floor treating machine having an improved arrangement for propelling the machine along the'floor whereby very little manual effort is required on the part of the operator. Another object is to provide an exceedingly simple and trouble-free arrangement for reversing the direction of movement of the machine at will.

. A further object of the invention is to provide a floor scrubbing machine of improved construction'and operation, and in particular to provide improved facilities for cleansing the floor and mopping up waste liquid so as to leave the floor comparatively dry.

Another object is to provide apparatus for applying the cleaning fluid to the floor for scrubbing purposes, then mopping up the dirty fluid and'filtering the dirt therefrom so that it may be reused; the application, removal and filtering being performed continuously and concurrently on a cyclic basis. 7

An important feature of the invention resides in the provision of a pair of parallel floor engaging rollers which are power driven inopposite directions together with means for tilting the machine so that either roller may be made to propel the machine. r

Other objects and features will appear in the course of the following description of the invention. 'In the accompanying drawings which form a part of the specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith, and in which like reference numerals are employed to identify like parts of the various views, I

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my floor scrubbing machine, parts thereof being broken away for the sake of illustration,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine with, parts broken away, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 in the directionof the arrows; Q

Referring more particularly'to the drawings, my machine has a chassis 9 whichis carried by and adapted to rollon apair of sponge-covered cylindrical rollers l0 and II. The rollers are mountedbetween the side walls l2 and I3 of the chassis in suitable bearings, the roller l0 being adjustable forwardly and rearwardly in the slots M in order to adjust the pressure with which the rollers engageone another at Ta soap solution, for example,) is stored in the above-mentioned tank and when the machine is in use is allowed to drain through hose 4| into a perforated pipe 42' which extends across the purpose. I v posited on the floor they provide the necessary 2 0n the rear of the chassis there is mounted an electrical motor [6 which rotates roller II in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 1) through a speed-reducing gear train composed of gears and pinions I! to 22, inclusive. This causes roller I 0 to turn in the opposite direction due to its contact with roller l member 28 cooperating with a series of teeth 29 on the frame or chassis of the machine is adapted to maintain the brush in adjusted position.

The motor also serves to drive a pump 30 through the medium of gears 3| and 32. This pump is mounted on the rear of the chassis and its function will be made clear presently.

Resting on the forward portion of the chassis is a removable rectangular tank 33 which is maintained in place by upturned flanges 34 encircling the bottom of the tank. It has a removable lid 35 and within the tank there is a removable skeleton framework comprising four vertical sides 36 and a series of transverse partitions or baffle plates 31. The frame has no bottom but its topis covered with a fine mesh screen 39. Apertures 40 in the baiiles interconnect the separate compartments" formed by the frame.

The scrubbing liquid (which may be water or chassis from one wall to the other at the point shown in Fig. 1. The liquid thus drains at a rate controlled by valve 43 onto the floor between the 'two counterrotating sponge-covered rollers.

" 44. The latter pipe is supported at its opposite ends in" the side walls l2 and i3 of the chassis and is provided with plates 45 which bear against the ends of the rollers HI and H in such a way as to close the ends of the aforementioned trough.

As the machine moves forward and backward over the floor, the rollers IQ and H serve a dual First, with the aid of the liquid de- 6 scrubbing action by virtue of their movement relative to the floor. Secondly, that portion of each roller which moves upwardly from the floor after contacting same carries the dirty liquid away from the area being scrubbed. This dirty liquid remains in the separate rollers until it reaches point l where, due to their contact pressure, it is squeezed out of them and tends to stand in the trough formed above their line of contact. lhe intake of pump is connected by hose ll to the perforated pipe 44 which is disposed in this trough and accordingly as the dirty liquid is forced out of the rollers into the trough it is pumped away through hose 4'! and returned to the tank 33 through hose d8.

Screen 39 retains the larger gritty particles carried in the waste liquid while the smaller particles pass through the screen and settle to the bottom of the tank. Accordingly, the liquid drawn ed at valve 53 for scrubbing purposes remains relatively clean. The settling is acilitated by baffles 3i which prevent splashing and maintain the liquid relatively still at the bottom of the tank despite the movement of the machine over the floor.

when an area of the floor has been satisfactorily scrubbed it may be dried simply by closing valve 33 and continuing to move the machine over the area until rollers it and i l have picked up all the water and caused it to be transferred back. to tank 33. When it is desired to change the liquid in the tank the upper end of hoses 25 and d8 are temporarily disconnected therefrom. the tank is removed from the chassis and dumped, then returned to the chassis and refilled.

In use, the machine is guided by a handle of the lawn mower type (not shown) which is iastened to the rear of the chassis by brackets 53. The handle is adjustable to a convenient angle .eutwhen thus adjusted it preferably is made rigid with respect to the machine by tightening i uts 5%. When this is done it is unnecessary to pull or push the machine in order to move it across the floor. Instead, if it is desired to cause the machine to advance it is only necessary to depress the handle slightly; this increases the traction of roller H on the floor and. reduces the traction of roller is whereby the machine will be driven forward by roller ll. Similarly if the handle is raised slightly the traction of roller to may be increased. while that of roller l! is ale-- creased. whereby the machine will be driven backward. Thus, simply bycontrolling the level at which the handle is held the machine may be caused. to move forward or backward at will.

A hard surfaced roller 52 disposed between the sponge. covered rollers limits. the weight carried by the latter rollers and serves to crush large particles of dirt on the fioor. It also serves as a fulcrum about which the machine may be tilted. Roller 52 is mountedat. its ends upon levers 53 (only one of which is shown in Figure 2') which are pivoted to the frame at b l'so that the roller may be adjusted vertically. A latch or frictional. detent 55 is. provided for maintaining the roller in adjusted position.

.When it is necessary to move the machine from one; job: to another the roller 52 may be lowered --to take the weight entirely off rollers Iii and H during the transfer.

A- shallow tray or trough 56 is disposed rearwardi-y of roller M So that itsupturned forward li-p just engages the periphery of the roller. Immed-lately above this lip is a comb comprising. a

rod 51 (see Figure 2) carrying. a series of curved teeth 58 which are tensioned toward the roller so that they will pick strings, lint and other loose material from the roller and cause it to fall into the tray. The bottom of the tray is perforated to permit the liquid to drain from the collected matter, and a door, not shown, is provided on the rear of the machine whereby the tray may be cleaned as necessary.

Inasmuch as many possible embodiments of the invention may be-rnacle without departing from the scope thereof it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be intepreted as i1- lustrative and not in a limi ing sense. It will be appreciated for instance that the arrange- .ment for enabling the machine to move itself in either direction across the floor is not necessarily limited to use in floor scrubbing apparatus but may be employed in other types of floor treating machines,

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinbefore set forth together with other advantages which are obvious and which. are inherent to the apparatus.

It will be understood that certain features and subconibinationsare of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and combinations; This is contemplated by and within the scope of the claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a floor scrubbing machine, a tank, a pair of parallel mopping rollers each having a liquid absorbing peripheral surface, said rollers being disposed side by side in engagement with one another, means for rotating said rollers in such opposite directions that the liquid absorbed by each roller is squeezed therefrom by the other roller into the trough-like space above the line of their engagement, and a pump having its intake in said trough-like space for drawingthe liquid therefrom and expelling it into said tank.

2. A floor scrubbing machine as in claim 1 having means for adjusting the spacing of said rollers thereby to controlthe pressure between the rollers at their point of engagement.

A floor scrubbing machine as in claim 1 wherein said pump intake comprises a perforate pipe extending loi-igitucli-nally of said trough-like space, and a pair of plates positioned normal to said pipe bearing against opposite ends of said rollers to close off the ends of said trough-like space.

4; In a floor scrubbing machine, a pair of parallel scrubbing and moppingrollers each having a liquid absorbing peripheral surface,- said rollers being disposed side by side in engagement with one another, a chassis supported on said rollers and carrying a storage tank for the cleaning liquid, a duct through which liquid flows from said. tank onto the floor betweensaid rollers, means for rotating the said rollers in such opposite directions that the liquid absorbed by each roller is squeezed therefrom by the other roller into the trough-like spaceabove the lineof their engagement, and a pump having its intake in said trough-like spacefor drawing the liquid therefrom and expelling. it into saidtank.

5. In a floor scrubbing machine as in claim 4 a combhaving teeth engaging one of said rollers for removing loose solid material from the surface thereof.

WILL-LAME C.-. RENT-FE (References onfollowing page) 5 6 REFERENCES CITED Number Name Date Thefollowing references are of record in the 1'391754 Balr Sept 1921 file of this patent: 1,546,531 Anderson July 21, 1925 1,644,859 Strader Oct. 11, 1927 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 1,661,979 I Ugolini Mar, s, 1928 Number Name Date 1,759,881 Bentley May 27, 1930 715,408, Murray et a1 Dec. 9, 1902 1,791,812 Harrison Feb. 10, 1931 870,454 McCabe NOV. 5, 1907 967,156 Barrire Aug. 16, 1910 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,010,997 Vidak Nov. 28, 1911 10 Number Country Date 1,250,131 Blakeslee Dec. 18, 1917 16,895 Great Britain 1899 1,268,963- Gray June 11, 1918 

